Seal is the outfit I was trying to remember before. I have a Seal
press but not the accessories. The Seal flattener was I am sure made of
aluminum but shaped as you describe Russ. The advantage of steel is that
it has much greater heat conductivity than steel so will absorb heat
better. If you can find pictures or drawings of one a sheet metal shop
or specialty shop could make one up. The two sides are just flat but I
think the Seal flattener has a handle or handles on it. I am pretty sure
it was painted. I suspect they turn up on ebay occasionally.
I wrote a long procedure for dry mounting based on the Seal method
which includes using the flat plates. Dry mounting has fallen out of
favor because it is difficult to remove prints to repair them if
necessary, however, I still think it does a neater job than other
methods and seems to be quite archival. However, the flattening method
works fine for, for instance, mounting conventional photographic prints
using archival tape hinges or corners and covering the print with a matt
cut out to frame it. The print still needs to be flattened so that it
won't curl during dry weather, etc.
Curling of conventional paper comes from the emulsion shrinking at
a different rate than the support. Same with RC. By drying using the
press and a sheet of release tissue over the emulsion side the moisture
is driven out of the support side eliminating the curling. Does not work
well for RC since the support is sealed.
This BTW was the idea of drying on screens. The paper is placed
face down on the screen which tends to equalize the rate of drying of
emulsion to support side. Sort of works. Old fashioned blotter books
also usually have a sheet of wax paper interspersed with the blotter
sheets. The paper is placed with the emulsion side facing the wax so
that the emulsion side must dry out through the backing. Does work but
the dry mounting press method works better.
I have to find my procedure and re-write it (I am sure) and post it
here if there is any interest.
I am drawing blanks again, specifically on the type of mounting for
ant art that is fastened together at the edges and the name of the
cut-out to mask the desired area.
On 12/27/2017 7:45 PM, Russ Gorman wrote:
Hi Adrienne,
The one I have came from Zone VI - not sure who originally made them, but it is literally a piece of steel with the ends bent up, then out (so two bends at each end) then powder coated with enamel. Any sheet metal place could make one easily and quickly for half the price of the one you link to below.
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Any reasonably sized town usually has a metalworks place that would do this for you. 1/16 inch steel is what mine is made from. ( I think steel comes in gauges not inches but don't know the conversion )
It works great and I use it for dry mounting all the time.
It has two holes drilled through the hand grips to hang it on the wall when not in use.
Ideally you would have it powder coated ( enamel) which the shop could direct you to or spray painted with enamel.
Here's an example place online but it would be cheaper locally to avoid shipping costs:
https://www.xometry.com/sheet-metal-fabrication/
Search for "sheet metal" near you.
Russ
On Dec 27, 2017, at 3:41 PM, Adrienne Moumin <photowonder2010@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:photowonder2010@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Happy Holidays, everyone!
I am looking for a metal plate for print flattening post-drymounting.
I'm in the planning stages of mounting 24 8x10 prints in an array of 4 high x 6 wide, for a total image size of 39" x 44". I am mounting on a sheet of 4-ply Rising mat board. So I will need something to quickly flatten and cool each section as I pull the entire behemoth out of my 16x20 press. I've done smaller mounted photo collages before, but I will need to move fast with this one.
I vaguely remember some sort of flat lead(?) plates, with all 4 sides up-fluted for easy grabbing, meant for exactly this purpose. Perhaps I don't know the right search terms, or perhaps such things went out with the Model T.
This is the closest I have found, but it's pretty expensive for the large size.
http://www.talasonline.com/Paper-Weights
I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas or leads for what I'm seeking?
With advance thanks,
Adrienne
/Adrienne Moumin
Handmade B&W photographs and photo collages:/ http:// <http://picturexhibit.com/>picturexhibit.com <http://picturexhibit.com/>
*Architextures series: *http://picturexhibit.com/html/architextures.html
NYC and Silver Spring, MD
212-602-1809
